Y12 Ancient History Roman/Julio-Claudian Points Test 14 Women and Freedmen of Claudius' Imperial Household

Question 1

1. Describe the supposed influence that Claudius was under, from his wives and freedmen, and why this might have been? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 1

• A key criticism of Claudius surrounding the role ascribed to, and the treatment of, his wives and freedmen.
• Suetonius (Claudius, 25) gives the standard view of the imperial court:
“One might say that everything Claudius did throughout his reign was dictated by his wives and freedmen: he practically always obeyed their whims rather than is own judgement.”
• Dio also speaks caustically of the offences of wives and freedmen alike (60.17.8).
• The sources’ opinions on the wives and freedmen are almost universally negative. They were perceived as being the real powers behind the throne, accruing enormous importance and wealth (Pliny, 33.134) and promoting themselves above their perceived station.
• In a Principate that had begun with a poor relationship between princeps and senate, this meant that the rift never healed.

Question 2

2. Describe the origins and organisation of the imperial ‘freedman’ bureaucracy under Claudius? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 2

• The demands of running the empire had long exceeded the capacity of a single individual. Claudius acknowledged this and utilised his freedmen effectively as a civil service: an imperial secretariat.
• While he did not create this bureaucratic body, he institutionalised it, with his individual freedmen becoming political figures of huge significance.
• Our sources highlight 3 pre-eminent members of the group:
• Callistus, in charge of petitions.
• Narcissus, Chief Secretary, in charge of correspondence.
• Pallas, treasurer and chief accountant.
• In order to increase administrative efficiency, Claudius developed specialised departments each under the control of one of his freedmen, most of whom were well-educated Greeks or Orientals.
• Narcissus was kind of a secretary general (ab epistulis) to Claudius, handling the huge amount of correspondence (letters, resolutions, reports and so on) in Greek and Latin which passed between the emperor and Roman officials and provincials in all parts of the empire.
• Pallas was the head of the financial department (a rationabus) and supervised the revenues which flowed into the imperial provincial fisci. These included money from the emperor’s personal estates and from the imperial provinces.
• Callistus was the legal secretary (a libellis) whose duty was to attend to all petitions and requests to the emperor, to deal with judicial inquiries and to see that all papers on cases to come before the emperor were prepared.
• Polybius was the privy seal and librarian (a studiis), providing Claudius with material for speeches and edicts as well as acting as his literary adviser.
• Numerous other freedmen were employed in the bureaucracy, but these were the chief officers of the state. They became very powerful, and retained great influence with Claudius: the sources indicate that he became the tool of those freedmen, making no independent decisions.

Question 3

3. Explain why the imperial ‘freedman’ bureaucracy under Claudius was so criticised and loathed by the Senate and the sources? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 3

• The development of this bureaucracy angered the senatorial and equestrian classes because Augustus and Tiberius had sought their advisers from among these two groups, whereas Claudius relied on foreigners who owed their allegiance to him.
• Inevitably perhaps, given their positions, and the fact that they fulfilled administrative roles historically held by the senate, these individuals are vilified by our senatorially sympathetic sources.
• There was great resentment at the wealth they gathered, which Dio states was partly due to their “offering for sale and peddling not merely citizenships and military commands and procuratorships, but everything else as well.” (60.17.8).
• Their political influence and privileged access to the emperor was also disliked. Suetonius (Claudius, 29) lists a series of Claudius’ actions carried out at the behest of his freedmen, though the most telling is the execution of 35 senators and 300 equites. The incorporation of this detail links these murders implicitly with the influence of the freedmen.
• Although the role of the freedmen was later a reason to criticise Claudius, the contemporary senate do not seem to have been averse to courting their favour: both Tacitus and Pliny the Younger record that the senate authorised a bronze statue of Pallas on 23 January 52.
• We need to remember that this imperial secretariat was created to make up for the shortcomings of the senate. Moreover, the Claudian administration was incredibly effective, and characterised by long-term planning and an overhaul of fundamental infrastructures in which the freedmen must have played a role.
• The criticisms of the senate (and later sources) about the rapacity of the freedmen are rather examples of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’: Josephus records that the plebs and provincials favoured a sole princeps because he acted ‘as a curb to the rapacity of the senate’ (JA, 19.228).

Question 4

4. Describe just how harshly the primary sources describe the greed of the imperial freedmen? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 4

• Tacitus felt nothing but contempt for these freedmen, referring to them constantly as ex-slaves. They were involved in all the intrigues of the imperial court. Callistus had been associated with the conspiracy which resulted in the death of Gaius; Narcissus had been responsible for the death of Messalina’s stepfather (Gaius Appius Junius Silanus); Narcissus informed Claudius of Messalina’s misconduct, and ordered her execution; Pallas, Callistus and Narcissus each promoted a different candidate for Claudius’ fourth wife; Pallas, as the successful backer – and later lover – of Agrippina, devoted himself to the promotion of her son Nero, at the expense of Claudius’ own son Britannicus, and Narcissus supported Britannicus against the intrigues of Agrippina and Pallas.
• These men were not only honoured and rewarded by Claudius and the senate, but acquired immense wealth; Suetonius outlines some of the honours Claudius’ awarded his favourites. Posides, a eunuch, was given the same honours as soldiers who had fought in the British campaign (a headless spear).
• Felix was made governor of Judaea, while Harpocras rode through the streets of Rome and was permitted to give entertainment as if he were a member of the equestrian order…
“Claudius had an even higher regard for Polybius, his literary mentor, who often walked between the two consuls. But his firmest devotion was reserved for Narcissus his secretary and Pallas his treasurer, whom he encouraged the senate to honour with large gifts of money and the insignia of quaestors and praetors as well.” ((Suetonius, Claudius, 28).
• Tacitus and Pliny both record with disgust the decree of the senate – later inscribed on a monument – honouring Pallas ‘for his fidelity and loyalty towards his patrons’, whereby he was awarded ‘the insignia of praetorian rank together with 15 million secterces, of which he accepted the honour alone’. (Pliny).
• Tacitus adds further that he was thanked for letting himself be regarded as one of the emperor’s servants, although he came from a long line of Arcadian kings.
• Tacitus was particularly critical of the senate for loading “praises of old-world frugality on a man who had once been a slave and was now worth 300 million secterces.” (Annals).
• Narcissus, whom Tacitus accused of greed and extravagance, owned a large estate in Egypt.
• These men were able to acquire riches by both legitimate and illegitimate means. Suetonius relates the story that when ‘one day Claudius complained how little cash was left in the imperial treasury, someone answered neatly that he would have heaps of pocket money if only his two freedmen took him into partnership.’ (Claudius, 28).

Question 5

5. Describe Claudius’ first and second wives/his relations with them, and the general influence of his wives over Claudius? (any relevant point for 2 marks).

Answer 5

• Turning to Claudius’ first two wives, Plautia Urgulanilla and Aelia Paetina – produced little of political significance, apart from Paetina giving birth to a healthy daughter, Claudia Antonia.
• Indeed, the casting aside of these women shows just how transient marriages could be in the political crucible of the Principate.
• Most of the ancient sources depict Claudius as submissive to his wives and totally unaware of what was going on in his own household.
• Their influence of him and his ignorance of their behaviour are probably exaggerated, but there is no doubt that his 3rd wife, Messalina, and his fourth wife Agrippina, wielded considerable power at court.

Question 6

6. Describe Valeria Messalina, Claudius’ Third Wife? (any relevant point for 2 marks).

Answer 6

• However, Claudius’ third marriage to Valeria Messalina was far more significant.
• Although she produced two children, Claudia Octavia and in 48 a son Tiberius Claudius (later named Britannicus), Messalina was a cause of humiliation and discord for Claudius, according to our sources. Her name became a byword for sexual excess (60.17.8-18.4).
• Valeria Messalina was of Julian stock, related to Augustus on both sides of her family, and for this reason Gaius had arranged for his uncle Claudius to marry here. She was 14, he over 30 years her senior.
• Although she bore him two children, Britannicus and Octavia, it is not surprising that she was concerned with gratifying her passions with other men.
• Official messages presenting the unity of the imperial family (Alexandrian silver didrachm, Lactor 19 J25a) may be nicely contrasted with the presentation of Messalina in the later sources. Suetonius mentions her ‘disgraceful crimes’ and her affairs, while the satirist Juvenal delights in cataloguing her numerous adulteries.

Question 7

7. Describe how Messalina caused chaos during Claudius’ reign prior to her coup attempt with Silius? (any relevant point for 2 marks).

Answer 7

• She was not only sexually depraved, but was also insanely jealous of possible female rivals. Through her influence over Claudius and his freedmen, she gained whatever she wanted and eliminated those who stood in her way.
• She organised the destruction of Poppaea Sabina, a rival, and acquired the lavish gardens of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus, Poppaea’s lover. ‘Agents were suborned to threaten Poppaea with imprisonment, and thus terrorise her into suicide.’ (Annals).
• Asiaticus was brought to trial on the pretext of corrupting the army; he also committed suicide.

Question 8

8. Describe how Messalina’s affair with Silius nearly destroyed Claudius’ reign? (any relevant point for 2 marks).

Answer 8

• She became more virulent, and ‘was only distracted from launching prosecutions and prosecutors by a new and almost maniacal love affair’ (Salmon) with the young, handsome, intelligent nobleman, Gaius Silius, who was consul-elect.
• She made no secret of the relationship, visiting him at his home, clinging to him in public and showering him with wealth and distinctions. When in 48 they decided to publically marry while Claudius was at Ostia, thus committing bigamy, the ‘imperial household shuddered’ (Annals).

Question 9

9. Describe how Messalina and Silius’ coup attempt was itself destroyed? (any relevant point for 2 marks).

Answer 9

• Claudius’ freedmen feared that it was a senatorial conspiracy to put Silius on the throne and they ‘had everything to fear from a new emperor’ (Annals). Tacitus describes the discussion between the freedmen Narcissus, Callistus and Pallas regarding the actions that they should take to put an end to Messalina’s scandalous behaviour or to inform Claudius.
• Pallas and Callistus were loath to do anything which might endanger their own positions, but Narcissus decided to denounce her without any warning.
• He approached two of Claudius’ mistresses and bribed them into acting as informers. After their denunciations, Narcissus urged Claudius to take immediate action – otherwise Messalina’s new husband would control Rome.
• However, even after confirmation of the story was given to him by the controller of the grain supply and the commander of the PG, Claudius was hesitant. He was urged to go immediately to the barracks of the PG to secure their support.
• In order to make sure that Claudius would arrive safely at Rome from Ostia, Narcissus took over command of the Guard for the day and accompanied the emperor in his carriage.
• He presented Claudius with a document listing all of Messalina’s immoralities, and when she appeared with the two children on the outskirts of Rome to meet him, Narcissus had them removed.
• After taking Claudius to the home of Silius which was full of heirlooms of the imperial family, he conducted him to the guards’ camp, where Silius and others involved with Messalina were condemned.
• Messalina planned an appeal to Claudius, and according to Tacitus, ‘if Narcissus had not speedily caused her death, the fatal blow would have rebounded on her accuser’, since Claudius’ anger appeared to be cooling.
• Narcissus gave honours (supposedly from Claudius) to officers of the PG to kill her.
• The senate decreed that all statues of her an inscriptions bearing her name were to be removed, and they awarded Narcissus an honorary Quaestorship.

Question 10

10. Describe how Agrippina the Younger became Claudius’ 4th Wife? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 10

• Messalina was executed. Although she was not mourned, she had to be replaced.
• Tacitus declared that ‘this wrenched apart the imperial household’. The woman eventually selected was Pallas’ candidate, Agrippina the Younger, Claudius’ own niece.
• Agrippina had distinct advantages – blood relative of Augustus, daughter of Germanicus, and with a young son who was also a Julian. Thus, her name held powerful political associations.
• Agrippina the younger, Claudius’ niece, had kept a low profile while Messalina was alive; she had already been persecuted by Messalina, and she feared for her son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (the future emperor, Nero).
• Agrippina was a widow, and on Messalina’s death wasted no time in securing support – particularly from the freedman Pallas – for her marriage to Claudius and promotion for her son at the expense of Messalina’s son, Britannicus.

Question 11

11. Describe the influence Agrippina the Younger has on Claudius’ latter reign? (any relevant point for 3 marks).

Answer 11

• Her key influence during Claudius’ reign was the promotion of her own son Nero over Britannicus (Annals, 12.25-6).
• The precedence that Claudius gave him on his adoption in 50 (Annals 12.41) shows the level of Agrippina’s influence at court, where here Nero actually took the name ‘NERO’ to reflect his entry into the Claudian family.
• Eventually, in 54 Claudius began to hint that he was growing weary of Agrippina’s activities.
• Narcissus also seems to have actively opposed Agrippina and her promotion of Nero (Annals, 12.65), highlighting the factionalism within the imperial court.
• Agrippina’s concern over Claudius’ possible reprisals led to an acceleration of her actions, suggesting that her entire relationship with Claudius was designed solely for achieving the pre-eminence of Nero.
• Both Tacitus (Annals, 12.66-7) and Suetonius (Claudius, 44-5) allege Agrippina’s involvement in poisoning Claudius, his 4th wife appearing to be the cause of his downfall.
• According to the sources Agrippina completely dominated Claudius in his last years, behaving as if she were a partner in his rule.
• She removed the fiancé of Octavia, to ensure her marriage to her son Nero.
• She recalled the philosopher Seneca from exile to be her son’s tutor, and the proceeded to eliminate her rivals/confiscate their property.
• When Narcissus was away from Rome recovering from an illness, Agrippina seized the chance to murder Claudius and proclaim Domitius emperor.
• She got Claudius to appoint one PG commander, Sextus Afranius Burrus , who was a partisan of hers.